Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences by Edward Tenner

For example, air-conditioned subways raise platform temperatures by as much as 10 degrees F; some computer users get painful, wrist-numbing carpal tunnel syndrome; flood control systems encourage settlement of flood-prone areas, inviting disaster; 6% of all hospital patients become infected with microbes they encounter during their stay.

Tenner, a historian of science & visiting researcher at Princeton, looks at revenge effects that pop up in medicine,sports, the computerized office & the environment.

Tenner's cautionary conclusion: revenge effects demand ingenuity and brain-power as technology continues to replace life-threatenting problems with slower-acting, more persistent ones."